Bills defense does something vs. Raiders not seen since NFL-AFL merger
The Buffalo Bills are 1-1 heading into Week 3 when most people believe that they should be 2-0. Despite the disappointing loss to the Aaron Rodgers-less New York Jets in Week 1, Buffalo turned things around in Week 2 by demolishing the Las Vegas Raiders in a spectacular way.
In the Bills’ 38-10 win, they held the Raiders to 55 yards rushing (3.7 yards per rush on 15 carries) and more impressively, Buffalo limited Raiders running back Josh Jacobs, who led the league in rushing last season, to -2 yards on nine carries. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first time since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger that a reigning NFL rushing champion finished a game with negative rushing yards.
Part of the reason for the success in limiting Las Vegas’ ground game was because of the fact that the Bills amassed a 21-10 lead at halftime and didn’t allow the Raiders to score another point. It essentially forced Las Vegas to abandon the run in an attempt to keep up. Not counting the two games that will be played on Monday, Buffalo is allowing 113.5 rushing yards per game, the 12th-most in the NFL:
Josh Jacobs, who is the NFL's reigning rushing champion, finished with -2 rushing yards on 9 rushes.
According to @EliasSports, this is the first time since the 1970 merger a reigning NFL rushing champion finished a game with negative rushing yardage. pic.twitter.com/AUYUDOUJ8A
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 17, 2023
